Flintoff back in action, says reserving best for Ashes

LONDON - England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff Friday made a comeback to competitive cricket for Lancashire and is upbeat about his performance in the Ashes.

Flintoff, surprisingly handed a starting slot by coach Peter Moores just six weeks after surgery on a troublesome knee forced him out of the IPL, claimed a wicket in just two balls of his comeback.

“One of the things going through my mind during all the rehab and the injuries is that if I didn’t think I could play the type of cricket I have played before or better I wouldn’t do it,” Flintoff was quoted as saying in the Guardian.

“I felt a bit rusty out there and there is a lot of room for improvement. I know I will have to be 100 per cent when the Ashes start in three weeks’ time but there is a lot of cricket between now and then.

“There’s a four-day game against Hampshire, some Twenty20s and an England warm-up game. So there is enough for me to go at to get into that position. I am confident that I can do that,” he said.

“After this game the medical staff will sit down and discuss how much I will play but I desperately want to play at Hampshire next week in the four-day game and as many Twenty20s as possible. I’m not sure if the decision will be taken out of my hands and decide what is best for me going into the first Test if selected.”

Flintoff, who bowled three spells, will soon set his sights on playing for England on a three-day Ashes warm-up match against Warwickshire, at Edgbaston, July 1, before locking horns with the Australians a week later in Cardiff.